John Oliver secondary launches a literacy offensive

Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun07.01.2013

John Oliver secondary students Shantelle (left to right), Priya, Monet (top), Simran, Matthew, Jason and Geeta show off the art they created for the literacy project they’re working on, June 25, 2013.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

Farrell Segall made this prototype book shelf (real ones are made of wood) for the literacy project students are working on at John Oliver secondary in Vancouver, on June 25, 2013.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

Farrell Segall made this prototype book shelf (real ones are made of wood) for the literacy project that students are working on at John Oliver secondary in Vancouver on June 25, 2013.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

John Oliver students Shantelle (left to right), Priya, Monet (top), Simran, Matthew, Jason and Geeta show off the art they created for the literacy project they’re working on at the Vancouver school , June 25, 2013.Arlen Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

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School’s not out for summer at John Oliver secondary in Vancouver, where staff, students and parents are working together on a significant literary initiative that will culminate in a one-day literacy celebration in September.

Students will be working throughout the summer building bookshelves, designing literacy games and training to be “literacy leaders.”

“We want to emphasize the connection between reading at home and being successful at school and having hopes and dreams,” said John Oliver principal Tim McGeer. “We’re finding that a big chunk of our students are reading at half grade level — they are in Grade 8 and they are reading at Grade 4 level.

There is a direct relationship between literacy and aspiration, literacy and success, McGeer said. “You can’t just dumb them down with worksheets all the time, we want to create some sense of wonder out of it.”

Reading for pleasure has dropped among students and adults, at least in part due to the “distraction of the web,” McGeer said, adding that it’s important to find a balance between technology and the sustained concentration of reading.

“Our kids are going to be in literacy leadership roles, even though our kids are quite literacy challenged. We’re flipping them into leadership positions to try to engage them,” McGeer said.

Simran Minhas, 14, a student going into Grade 9 at John Oliver, says she thinks the project will influence both secondary and elementary students to read more.

“I think it will make a huge difference because kids these days do not really read a lot. All they do is go on their iPad or play games,” Minhas said. “It will influence even kids (my) age — a lot of them are not reading — but it will be really great for them to be involved because they will be encouraged to read as well.”

McGeer said becoming a better reader can be a game changer for students.

“It’s the difference between flatlining on possibility and being able to dream. The more reading you do the more brain activity that takes place, the more synaptic connections that are created, the more resilient your brain is,” McGeer said. “The reason we wanted to do the wonder of reading and make something magical about it is so that it’s not all about worksheets and enforcing.

“A lot of research shows that reading for pleasure is one of the best ways that you can raise literacy rates.”

Elementary students will be doing their homework over the summer, reading five books to prepare for a Battle of the Books that will see John Oliver’s elementary feeder schools compete against each other in a game show format.

Parents have developed a mobile woodworking shop to build mini bookshelves for elementary school children to house some of the 14,000 books already collected for the project.

“We’ve designed these beautiful book houses ... and we’re putting books in there and giving them away to elementary schools so that kids can just go in there and pick books,” McGeer said. “We’re giving them away to neighbourhood houses and anyone who would like one, just to encourage reading.”

John Oliver parent is taking part in the Wonder of Reading by preparing pre-cut, ready-to-assemble bookshelves to give to kids to take home filled with donated books. The long-term John Oliver Parent Advisory Council member said he’s doing it because he likes to give back and he wants to provide a space for kids to have their own books.

The school has been working on the project for about seven months already, forming 23 partnerships with organizations ranging from Chapters to the Vancouver Public Library to the Whitecaps, McGeer said.

“We’re galvanizing so many partners to work together on this project,” McGeer said. “We all recognize that it’s a challenge for the city central and east-side, so let’s use the high school as the fulcrum to bring people together and then focus in.”

McGeer and John Oliver’s vice-principal Thomas Harapnuick will be working this summer to raise awareness of the event.

“We will be going out to the churches and the community where we can meet our Filipino and South Asian parents particularly,” McGeer said. “Our demographic has changed — it’s different than it would have been 20 or 40 years ago, so we need to change our strategies and know our clientele and convince them that literacy at home really matters.”

The Wonder of Reading event at John Oliver will take place Sept. 25, the same day as The Vancouver Sun’s Raise-A-Reader day. The day will include live drama and musical performances, interactive, high-energy games, First Nations storytelling and digital adaptations of children’s literature.

McGeer hopes the event will have long-term effects in the community and at John Oliver.

“Our hope is that the connections created here will create a series of multi-level, multi-year literacy initiatives and strategies teacher-to-teacher, elementary to high school, class-to-class, all around inspiring literacy,” McGeer said.

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